Texas DB taking a break to deal with depression
Texas junior defensive back Kobe Boyce is stepping away from football, he announced on social media Saturday.
“For a few years now I have been battling depression and I let all my emotions build up and it wasn’t a good feeling,” he wrote. “I used to be scared of discussing this and kept it all to myself.”
Boyce played in 13 games in 2019 and broke up a team-high five passes.
“Anyone who is going through the same thing, please talk to someone,” he wrote. “Take care of yourself and your mental health.”
COLLEGE BASKETBALL Shooting guard commits to Coogs
The University of Houston picked up a commitment from Michael
Thomas, a shooting guard from Kilgore College.
Thomas, a 6-4 sophomore from Lake Charles, La., averaged 14.9 points while shooting 51.9 percent from the floor and 40 percent from 3-point range in 24.6 minutes per game as a freshman.
Thomas picked the Cougars over Wichita
State, SMU, Georgia, Ole Miss and Seton Hall.
BASEBALL Blue Jays barred from Toronto
The Blue Jays won’t play their home games in Toronto this year because Canada’s government doesn’t think it’s safe for players to travel back and forth from the United States, one of the countries hit hardest by the coronavirus pandemic.
The team had been cleared by city and provincial governments to play at Rogers Centre and was awaiting approval from Canada’s federal government.
In other news:
• First baseman Freddie Freeman said he doesn’t know if he’ll be ready for the Atlanta Braves’ opener, but he’s grateful just to have a chance after his battle with COVID-19.
The four-time All-Star revealed he had a high temperature of 104.5 degrees early in his battle with the disease and prayed for his life.
“I said a little prayer that night,” Freeman said in a video conference call. “I’ve never been that hot before. My body was really, really hot. … I said ‘Please don’t take me,’ because I wasn’t ready.”
MOTOR SPORTS Busch wins one after loss by DQ
Kyle Busch won the NASCAR Truck Series race at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth, getting the victory in his second race of the day after a postrace disqualification took away an apparent Xfinity Series win.
It was a 1-2 finish for Busch’s team, with the owner finishing 0.777 seconds in front of 19-yearold rookie Christian
Eckes, the driver of the No. 18 Toyota that Busch owns.
In the Xfinity race, Busch’s No. 54 Joe Gibbs Toyota failed postrace inspection after finishing ahead of Austin Cindric, who was declared the winner for his third victory in a row after taking both Xfinity races at Kentucky. NASCAR said Busch’s left rear measured too low.
In other news:
• Josef Newgarden led nearly wire-to-wire to win the IndyCar race at Iowa Speedway, giving team owner Roger Penske a sweep of the doubleheader after Simon Pagenaud won the opener Friday.